3.78 cGPA and 170 LSAT Forum

[lhz]

Is Harvard or Yale possible?

Also: very scanty volunteer experience, only work experience is in retail and retail management. No real extra curricular activities...

[Philafaler]

Is that the LSAC GPA? Are you URM? Check mylsn.info; it looks like a couple people with your numbers got H.

[lhz]

cumulative GPA for 4 years, at UofT we just refer to your final GPA at the end of your degree as cGPA and all other sessional GPA(s) as your GPA...totally confusing. Should I retake the LSAT though because my GPA's sort of on the lower end? also, I'm new at this, URM, mylsn.info...will make a mental note to figure out what those are.
my law school numbers? am I close?

oh and does it hurt my chances that it's an HBSc. not a bachelor of arts? I did minor in political science, but my actual degree is a science degree, but I heard you're taught everything from scratch in year 1 anyways

[Philafaler]

Welcome to TLS by the way. A couple things:

The LSAC might calculate your GPA differently than your school does, so you need to look into that to get an exact GPA. Mylsn allows you to look at how different ranges of GPAs and LSAT scores performed in prior years. So, I can see that with that GPA and LSAT at least a couple people got into H, but not Yale or Stanford. URM is an under represented minority, and it gives a major admissions boost.

Retake is probably a good idea if you think you can improve. How did you study originally?

Also, I have no idea what an HBSc is, but I don't think it will matter at all.

[lhz]

Middle Eastern Female, yeah I would say I'm an under represented minority, my degree's an honours bachelor of sciences, hopefully they don't care and for the LSAT I studied with little commitment by taking a course then studied on my own like crazy for 2 months leading to the LSAT
and thank you, I'm glad I found this place, I was completely lost and I'm planning on applying for the entering class of September 2015, so I feel completely behind and uninformed!

[Philafaler]

Ok, I'm not positive, but I don't think that will get a URM boost, but search around this forum to find out. I think the science degree will only help (as a soft), but it won't overcome your numbers. Go play around with mylsn and see what different LSAT scores can do for you. You should probably consider a retake, especially if you want Yale. Good luck! You've got plenty of time to get your application together for next year.

[lhz]

can't seem to catch a break...totally thought I had the whole under represented minority deal down. Oh well, thanks for the info, will look into that

[midnight_circus]

You are not URM.

Having a BS instead of a BA won't matter at all, unless you want to do IP in the future. TLS consensus is that it won't help you outperform your numbers. It also won't hurt you; studying science is perfectly adequate preparation for law school--at least as much as poli sci.

[BigZuck]

Retake if you want a shot at Harvard. Yale is almost certainly out no matter what.

[OutCold]

I had similar numbers two years ago. Same LSAT, slightly higher GPA. I was held at Harvard but ultimately rejected, rejected from Stanford, and didn't apply to Yale. I applied late in the cycle, however. You might have a shot at Harvard, but not likely unless you retake. Yale is out. You have a decent chance of snagging something in CCN though.

[nothingtosee]

Is Harvard or Yale possible?

Also: very scanty volunteer experience, only work experience is in retail and retail management. No real extra curricular activities...

With below both medians and no softs no chance... But with some w/e and a retake definitely possible for H. Gpa locks you out of S and Y

[helix23]

without a urm boost, no. i had similar gpa, better lsat and better softs and got dinged.

[Philafaler]

With below both medians and no softs no chance... But with some w/e and a retake definitely possible for H. Gpa locks you out of S and Y

But Stanford and Yale are probably worth at least an application, I'd say. Chances are really, really low, but not zero--especially with a solid retake.

[nothingtosee]

With below both medians and no softs no chance... But with some w/e and a retake definitely possible for H. Gpa locks you out of S and Y

But Stanford and Yale are probably worth at least an application, I'd say. Chances are really, really low, but not zero--especially with a solid retake.

I mean...11% chance assuming a hyped up retake. But how many of these people are Ivy undergrads/people who messed up first semester then got 4.0s/5 year work experience types?

But if $200 of your or your parents' money is worth it to you #YOLO

[jbagelboy]

With below both medians and no softs no chance... But with some w/e and a retake definitely possible for H. Gpa locks you out of S and Y

But Stanford and Yale are probably worth at least an application, I'd say. Chances are really, really low, but not zero--especially with a solid retake.

I mean...11% chance assuming a hyped up retake. But how many of these people are Ivy undergrads/people who messed up first semester then got 4.0s/5 year work experience types?

But if $200 of your or your parents' money is worth it to you #YOLO

Right now you have a great shot at NYU and down. Chicago and CLS are possible but not certain.

For HLS, you'll need to retake for 173 to be competitive (you should note from the chart above, you should not read your chances at HLS with 170 LSAT as 44%. On a granular level, the 170s and 171s are concentrated in the Denies, and the admits are drawn from the 174+). For CC, I think even a 171 would make acceptance far more likely than not.

[lhz]

thanks for all the info, I have a lot to think about! I'm definitely retaking the LSAT though, we'll see what happens
this year though I was thinking I would try to pad my resume with work/volunteer experience. What do you guys recommend?

I've pretty much only worked in retail, management in retail, secretary for a summer and event coordinator. None of it is relevant to law school and my volunteer experience extends as far as taking calls at the rape crisis centre and tutoring children from immigrant backgrounds for years. I'm a regular hand at Doctors without borders at UofT when we set up information sessions and I've helped organize one book donation but that's pretty much it and all of it seems unimpressive and completely irrelevant for law school.

what would be deemed relevant work/volunteer experience for law school?